New sounds from an old favorite: the story of Into Paradise and Dave Long

Dublin's Into Paradise remain one of my favorite groups of all time. They released four incredible albums and a number of killer EPs from 1989-1994 -- mainly on Keith Cullen's famed London imprint Setanta -- before calling it quits. The band had a postpunk vibe that brought to mind legends such as Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division, and the Sound. The late Adrian Borland, who fronted the latter, even produced some of Into Paradise's records. I discovered the group in 1989 when I bought their Blue Light EP and debut full-length Under The Water on a visit to England. I'm not sure where I read about them, but obviously something in the description lead me to buy the records without hearing a note. I'm certainly glad I did! I was immediately transfixed by the epic, moody sounds, and the singer Dave Long's breathtaking vocals. A favorite song from this early period is the stunning ballad "I Want You."



Soon after these records came out, Setanta was able to get a licencing deal with Chrysalis and a bastardized version of the debut album, simply called Into Paradise, which combined songs from Under The Water and another EP Change was released in America. Below is a fanzine review I wrote about Under The Water.

Next up was the major label effort, which should have been huge. It was a harder and heavier record with postpunk killers like the intense Magazine-like "Burns My Skin." At this time I struck up a correspondence with Keith Cullen and he even sent me the 12" of "Burns My Skin" which featured a cover of "Shot By Both Sides" as a B-side as well as the debut EP by another Dublin group I came to love, Power of Dreams. Into Paradise did not become the next U2 and their last two albums, Down All The Days (1992) and For No One (1993) were released on Setanta to critical acclaim in Ireland, but without the commercial success that was so richly deserved.

Into Paradise even make a cameo in my forthcoming Whipping Boy-inspired novel, when the protagonist sees what turns out to be one of their last gigs at the Rock Garden. The scene was inspired by this recording of their last ever gig, recently posted on the excellent Fanning Sessions blog.

Some twenty years later and Dave Long is back with a tremendous self-released solo album called Water Has Memory. The man hasn't lost a beat. Songs like the windswept ballads "London is Fog" and  "Music Goes" and the edgy "Saturday Night" bring it all back home again. I hope to visit Dublin next year and would love to buy him a pint or two -- that's the least I can do to thank him for all the wonderful music.




Ben Vendetta is the author of the music-centric novels Wivenhoe Park (2013) and Heartworm (forthcoming Spring 2015). Wivenhoe Park is available on Kindle and paperback via Amazon. Signed paperbacks can be purchased from Elephant Stone Records. 

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That Petrol Emotion: The story behind my first interview ever

Before running Vendetta magazine from 1994-2002, I edited a shortly lived zine called New Direction from 1987-1991. While cleaning out my closet, I came across a box of old issues, so I decided that I'd start scanning some articles over the coming weeks, including reviews of then 'new' albums by the likes of the Stone Roses, House of Love, Ride, and the Cure's Disintegration. But first, I wanted to share the first in-person interview I ever conducted with the now legendary Northern Irish outfit That Petrol Emotion.

The group became an immediate favorite of mine when their debut Manic Pop Thrill was released in 1986 while I was studying abroad in England. I remember reading rave reviews in the British press and running out to buy it with my best friend Marc. That Petrol Emotion even make a cameo in my novel Wivenhoe Park when the protagonist Drew and his buddy Johnny see the band in London and talk to Steve Mack afterwards. When I came back to America, I discovered The Big Takeover magazine and was immediately inspired to start my own fanzine. For the first few years I just published record and live reviews, until a friend of mine, Jon, kicked my ass into gear. We went to Detroit to see That Petrol Emotion at St. Andrew's Hall. At the gig Jon went to the side of the stage and started chatting to a dude who turned out to be the group's tour manager. When the concert ended, Jon said to me, come on we're going backstage. I told their manager that you write for Spin and that you just interviewed Billy Bragg! We went backstage -- I'm sure my hands were visibly shaking -- and got to meet everyone in the band, before I conducted a brief interview with bass player John Marchini. As I didn't have a recorder, I jotted down notes on the back of a concert flyer and blended them into the short article below.

I would end up interviewing a hundreds of bands in the coming decade, including Ride, Catherine Wheel, Suede, Jesus and Mary Chain, and Brian Jonestown Massacre, but this little chat with That Petrol Emotion will always remain one of my favorite writing memories.



Ben Vendetta is the author of the music-centric novels Wivenhoe Park (2013) and Heartworm (forthcoming Spring 2015). Wivenhoe Park is available on Kindle and paperback via Amazon. Signed paperbacks can be purchased from Elephant Stone Records. 

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Psychocandy and Me

It's 2014 and the Jesus and Mary Chain are all the rage again, playing reunion shows some twenty-nine years after the release of their seminal debut album Psychocandy. Next year promises much more of the same when the thirtieth anniversary kicks in. While this makes me feel old, it also makes me feel happy. More than any other band, the Jesus and Mary Chain changed my life for the better. I sign copies of my novel with the inscription 'rock'n' roll saves lives' because they saved my mine. The Jesus and Mary Chain were part of several life changing detours that I took in 1985 when, on a whim, I decided to move to England and study at the University of Essex. My novel, Wivenhoe Park, is a semi-autobiographical account of what went down.

I was incredibly lost my first two years of college. The biggest goal I had when I started school at the University of Michigan was to make the varsity cross country team, but those plans capsized within months as I tried, without success, to balance out running, keeping up with my classes, and partying like a rock star. In high school I would drink occasionally on the weekends, but without parental supervision, things quickly got out of control. I ended up quitting the team, later even getting hospitalized for a week with pancreatitis. I had become so depressed that I ended up seeing a shrink and got prescribed Valium. I certainly didn't mind that part! My sophomore year was a blur -- it probably sounds cliched but I felt like I didn't belong and was looking for an exit strategy. Just a few weeks before study abroad application deadlines were due, I decided to apply for two programs in England: University of Essex and York University. To this day, I'm eternally grateful that my parents let me do this.

I ended up getting accepted at both schools, choosing Essex because of its closer proximity to London. Essex was a completely different world to Michigan. The students were much more politically active and I felt like I didn't have to search so hard to find kindred spirits. For the first time in a long time, I felt at home. In perfect synchronicity, Psychocandy came a few weeks after I arrived and quickly became the soundtrack to my year.  I bought every magazine I could that had articles about the group, even cutting and styling my hair into a spiky mess as a homage to Jim and William Reid. My best friend was another like-minded American named Marc (Johnny in the novel). He arrived on campus in January and we met at a campus disco a few days after he landed in London; the two American dudes with pierced ears. I told him about Psychocandy, which hadn't come out in America yet, and he was desperate to hear it. We ended up going back to my room and playing my cassette and drinking whiskey out of a bottle that I had on my shelf and became friends for life. Marc got me into a lot of great music -- he had a tape of some previously unreleased Velvet Underground tunes -- and we saw countless shows together, even traveling in France and Italy. 

I tried to recapture that reckless rush of youth I experienced in England when I wrote Wivenhoe Park, playing the Mary Chain on repeat as I banged out the early drafts. The album is still my best music friend and because of it I feel like I was brave enough to forge out a path that lead me to becoming a music writer, who even got to meet most of his heroes, including Creation Records founders Alan McGee and Joe Foster, the men who brought the Jesus and Mary Chain to the world. Creation was my inspiration when I had my own label Elephant Stone -- most of the records I put out owed at least something to the spirit of the Jesus and Mary Chain. Happy 30th Jesus and Mary Chain -- hope to catch up with you again sometime soon.

Wivenhoe Park is available on Kindle and paperback via Amazon. Signed paperbacks can be ordered directly from me via Elephant Stone Records. 

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